ND loses Hunter, stays true to word

January 02, 2008|JEFF CARROLL

On Tuesday night, the saga of nose tackle recruit Omar Hunter came to an end for Notre Dame. Hunter told ESPN.com that he had withdrawn his verbal commitment from Notre Dame and would seek a scholarship elsewhere -- the smart money is on Florida. Moving forward, here's the most important part for Notre Dame: the divorce is apparently mutual. And if the cynic in you thinks that's just semantics, understand that Hunter's situation was an inevitable test case for Irish coach Charlie Weis, and Weis passed it even as what he lost in the process is tough to stomach. According to an Internet report earlier this week by Rivals.com's Mike Farrell, the Notre Dame coaching staff had informed Hunter that if he chose to take other official visits like he was talking about, then the Notre Dame offer would be withdrawn. "That's a fact," competing recruiting analyst Tom Lemming confirmed Tuesday from the U.S. Army All-American Bowl in San Antonio. "You can print that." In that case, bravo to Weis for sticking with his convictions. Weis hasn't gotten a lot of credit this year, including if not especially in this space, after his team's disastrous 3-9 campaign. From spring through shameful back-to-back losses against Navy and Air Force, he pushed almost all the wrong buttons. From the first half of the opener against Georgia Tech, he was swimming upstream against a down current in trying to make up for a mostly botched preseason. All the while, against all odds, he had assembled a recruiting class that most analysts rank No. 1 in the nation heading into the final stretch before signing day in February. He has done so at least partially on the strength of an all-in or all-out philosophy that carries little tolerance for oscillation. But for it to work, that has to apply to Weis himself, as well. To what degree has Weis made integrity and truthfulness a bedrock of his image? Consider this. Last year, the Tribune asked each of Notre Dame's incoming recruiting class members to summarize Weis in one word. A sampling of their answers: Gary Gray: "Honest." Robert Hughes: "Honest." Emeka Nwanko: "Honest." You get the picture. Also, Taylor Dever said Weis was "outspoken." And Duval Kamara called him "daring." Weis was certainly daring last February, as well as outspoken, when he used national signing day to deliver a stump speech on new ground rules he was going to set in the recruiting game. Though verbal commitments are non-binding and it is legally open season on recruits, Weis said he planned to use his program as a petri dish for coercing a deeper level of commitment from teenagers prone to indecisiveness. "If they're looking, we are, too," Weis said then. It wasn't an absolute ultimatum, as many ND fans rushed to point out over the last few days. And as Hunter began to waver a week ago, some in the media joined them in thinking Weis would be silly to let Hunter walk without a fight. That he had spoken out of emotion a year ago after losing several players at the last hour. That the 6-foot-1, 300-pound Hunter's talent transcended Weis' tough talk. That last argument, in particular, misses the point. Weis had to part ways with Hunter precisely because the defensive tackle was so talented. For Weis to retain his reputation as a straight shooter, he couldn't waver the first time one of the more talented among his class of 2008 came down with cold feet. And, make no mistake, this wasn't just a one-day off-the-cuff outburst. Weis has been hammering home the "meaning of commitment" theme during this cycle. "I got that letter from coach Weis," California linebacker Anthony McDonald said way back in October, his future team sputtering at 0-5, "saying you're either all-in or you're all-out and I'm all-in still." Sometimes Weis' one-rule-fits-all philosophy can be frustrating. Like this past season, when starting quarterback Jimmy Clausen, in a highly visible leadership position, was almost always unavailable to the media because, at Notre Dame, freshmen just don't chat. But this time it was appropriate. Straying from his convictions in Hunter's case may have saved Weis this recruit -- it's unlikely, but possible. But at what cost? Weis would have constructed the beginnings of a caste system in his program -- one set of rules for lesser recruits, another for elite prospects. That might help secure some gems in the short-term, but in the long-term, it eats away at the credibility of the head coach's word, the foundation of any highly functioning program. "I like coaches that have a set of rules and they're not going to beg," said Lemming, who writes a paid column for the Tribune publication Irish Sports Report. "When it doesn't happen that way, it looks like the kid has more power than the coaches. You can't run a disciplined program that way. Weis is doing the right thing." To be absolutely clear, Hunter deserves little, if any, scorn in this situation. He verbally committed to Notre Dame early on, a non-binding commitment in the eyes of the NCAA even as Weis tries to drum up a word-is-bond culture. The sometimes sour taste of grapes notwithstanding, there is nothing to indicate that Hunter wasn't sincere at the time. But kids Hunter's age change their minds five times about what to wear to the mall or order at Arby's, let alone a decision this lasting. Hunter's star had grown since his commitment, when ND and Michigan were reportedly the only elite-level programs that had offered. Once Florida defensive coordinator Greg Mattison started ringing up the southern product, Notre Dame was in trouble. Mattison, a former assistant at Notre Dame, will always be a burr in Notre Dame's side because he knows the school well enough to recruit against it. Hunter has his reasons for looking elsewhere. They are his alone, and trying to apply your value system to another individual's choices is a hopeless venture. "Watching Notre Dame," Hunter said in the ESPN.com article, "their style and how they played, it doesn't really fit with the way I played." That's enough for me. For the first time in a long time, Notre Dame is solid at the nose guard/defensive tackle position. Sophomore-to-be Ian Williams had a tremendous year in a back-up role. Lemming said Louisville product Brandon Newman is impressing down in San Antonio. As long as this development doesn't foreshadow a mass exodus of this class, the Irish are still in great shape for signing day. Notre Dame-Omar Hunter was a marriage that wasn't meant to last. Why force it? Staff Writer Jeff Carroll: jcarroll@sbtinfo.com (574) 235-6382